The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) has called upon the leaders of Kumi district to support the implementation of Uganda Climate Smart Agricultural Transformation Project (UCSATP). This plea was made during a two day district level engagement meeting convened by MAAIF to orient the leaders on the objectives of the project.  The Permanent Secretary of MAAIF, Maj. Gen David Kasura Kyomukama in his address delivered by Dr. Margaret Aanyu, the MAAIF team lead urged the stakeholders to prioritize climate smart agriculture strategies in the developments as it was critical in addressing the adverse challenges faced in agriculture as it aims to adopt climate smart technologies, innovations and management practices.  Maj. Kyomukama emphasized the need for mindset change among the stakeholders to embrace innovative approaches to increase productivity, market access and building resilience in the agricultural value chain. He cautioned the technical team against poor accountability attributing it to reasons for failure of most of the projects implemented before. He further added that this was the first project that integrated all key stakeholders and the district leaders were pivotal in the transformation of their communities.  Roseline Adongo, Kumi district Chief Administrative Officer decried the low staffing gaps in the production department, currently at 28% with 18 administrative units in the district, she appealed to the MAAIF team to lobby through the project for more staff to be recruited. The UCSATP is slated for a six year implementation period with four years remaining. It focuses on increasing agricultural productivity, market access and resilience of selected value chains while ensuring prompt response to emergencies. The project funding is at USD 354.7 million, USD 350million from World Bank, USD 325 million as a loan, USD 25 million as a grant and USD 4.7million from the government of Uganda.  The projects will be implemented in 69 districts and the teso sub region has seven districts of Kumi, Bukeddea, Katakwi, Serere, Ngora, Kaberamaido and Kalaki set to benefit with six value chains enterprises of Citrs, Mangoes, Dairy, Beef, aquaculture and beneficial insects.